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Less milk production, exercise and deflated breasts

My son is almost 5 months old and exclusively breastfed. I noticed a decrease in my milk production around 3-4 weeks ago when I started exercising. I exercised 6 days a week for 40-80mins of walking. I spoke to my doctor about the decrease and she just suggested increasing my calories so I did that. Up until that point my son had 5 large poopy diapers a day. With the exercise it went down to 1 a day or every 2 days. Again, I as told that this was probably just as a result of his digestive tract maturing and producing less waste, not as a result of the exercise. I started pumping 3 times a day (3-4oz per pump) and gave him 2 bottles in addition to his nursing so that I can see him get enough in. I saw a drop again a few days ago and I started taking Fenugreek. Since then my pump production has dropped to 1-1,5oz and my breasts are smaller, flatter and softer. They don't even fill my bra and my husband even noticed it when I told him about my decrease in milk production. He doesn't mind, but I mean it is an obvious change. My son has started nursing more (especially at night) and he appears hungry to me. He has 6-8 wet diapers a day. Could it be the Fenugreek? I haven't got my cycle back yet. I have stopped the exercise now. I would love to exercise, but nursing my son is much more important. Any advice? I need to get my production back

Re: Less milk production, exercise and deflated breasts

Hi jennydk, welcome to the forum! It's normal for moms to have a relative oversupply in the beginning - nature's way of making sure baby has enough. Then over time, supply usually regulates. So that really full feeling will go away, breasts will seem soft and "empty," (although they never are), you may not feel a letdown - all normal and not necessarily a sign that you are not making enough. Also, it's normal for pooping habits to change, as your doctor said. A 5 month old may poop once a day or once every few days or even less - in newborns poop is a very good sign of whether milk is enough, but is not necessarily a reliable sign at 5 months. The 6-8 wet diapers is a good sign and also, weight gain. So is there any reason to believe that your supply is really low? Otherwise all the pumping you're doing is really not necessary and may be counterproductive, actually getting you back into oversupply, which has its own problems (plugged ducts, mastitis etc). Are you normally at home with baby, nursing on demand? How often does baby nurse in 24 hours? If this is the case, and if there are no other issues (health issues in you or baby, new birth control - especially hormonal, pregnancy etc) there is no reason to think that your supply would suddenly be too low. I doubt think an hour or so of walking a day would cause your supply to dip below the level it should be. Baby nursing more at night at this age could be for many reasons other than supply being too low - teething, being more aware of surroundings and wanting the comfort of nursing when he wakes up at night, etc.

Re: Less milk production, exercise and deflated breasts

I agree that it's probably not the exercise affecting your supply, rather just your body getting in sync with your baby's demands. I remember when my DD reached the 6 month mark, I decided that I was going to try to donate some milk. Up to that point when I had pumped, I could easily get six ounces in about 10 minutes. When I tried again at 6 months, I was lucky to get one or 2! And I had been exercising since about 3 months PP. So I would agree to watch wet diapers and weight gain, rather than just going by poops and pump amounts!